The Arrondissements of Cameroon are the third-level units of administration in

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. The arrondissements are organised by divisions and sub divisions of each province (now Regions). Rue du marché Mboppi à Douala1

As of 2005 (and since 1996) there are 2 urban communities (

Douala Douala is the largest city in Cameroon and its economic capital. It is also the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Region. Home to Central Africa's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport (DLA), it is the com ...

and

Yaoundé Yaoundé (; , ) is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres (2,50 ...

) divided into 11 urban districts (5 in Douala and 6 in Yaounde), 9 towns with special status ( Nkongsamba,

Bafoussam Bafoussam is the capital and largest city of the West Region of Cameroon, in the Bamboutos Mountains. It is the 3rd most important (financially) city in Cameroon, after Yaoundé and Douala. The ''communauté urbaine'' (Urban Community) of Bafous ...

, Bamenda, Limbe, Edéa,

Ebolowa Ebolowa is the capital of Cameroon's South Region. It has a population of 79,500 (2001 estimate). It is a colonial town and a notable agricultural centre. Overview The main crop is cocoa. It also hosts an important number of administrative se ...

, Garoua,

Maroua Maroua (Fula: Marwa 𞤥𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢) is the capital of the Far North Region of Cameroon, stretching along the banks of the Ferngo and Kaliao Rivers, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains. The city had 301,371 inhabitants at the 2005 ...

and

Kumba Kumba is a metropolitan city in the Meme department, Southwest Region, Western Cameroon, referred as "K-town" in local slang. Kumba is the most developed and largest city in the Meme Department and has attracted people from the local villag ...

), 11 urban communes and 305 rural communes. The councils are headed by mayors and municipal councillors who are elected. The councils have a responsibility in principle for the management of local affairs under the supervision of the State. Under Cameroonian law, the councils provide and regulate administrative, economic and social development, define and enforce work practices to increase efficiency and improve the quality of services, promote training and retraining of municipal staff. The ballot for the election of municipal elections is a mixed system with both a majority system and a proportional representation system. The party which obtains the absolute majority of votes wins all the seats. If no party receives an absolute majority, the party that obtains the plurality gets half the seats, with the other half allocated in proportion to the votes of each party. The law requires the parties to take account of the various sociological components of the district, including the representation of ethnic minorities. Urban municipalities and special urban communities are headed by representatives appointed by decree of President of the Republic of Cameroon, who serve as mayor and the metropolitan chairman. In urban communities there are urban district headed by elected municipal councils, but whose functions are much reduced than in other iii